What was once a community in the Zakkari Desert is now entirely covered in encroaching sands due to the extreme desertification in Yobe state. The trees on the horizon are the legendary acacia trees which hold potential to resist the desert encroachment and absorb nitrogen Ð which is among the harmful gasses contributing to climate change.
Photo by Murtala Abdullahi
The complexities of climate change and its associated jargon can make it difficult to digest. TheCable’s climate quick facts will help to demystify these climate concepts through easy-to-understand and straight-to-the-point explanations.
Here are some to keep at the tip of your fingers:
- According to the United Nations, the consequences of climate change now include intense droughts, water scarcity, severe fires, rising sea levels, flooding, melting polar ice, catastrophic storms, and declining biodiversity, among others.
- Climate change and related extreme events will significantly increase ill health and premature deaths, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
- IPCC also said excess of 250,000 deaths per year by 2050 is attributable to climate change due to heat, undernutrition, malaria, and diarrheal disease.
- Early warning systems based on targeted climate services can be effective for disaster risk reduction, social protection programmes, and managing risks to health and food systems, says IPCC.
- The 100 least-emitting countries generate 3 percent of total emissions while the 10 largest emitters contribute 68 percent, according to the UN.
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